"DeMille Must Die!" .

The plot to kill Cecil B. DeMille on the set of "The Crusades" and the thirty year feud with the Gower Gulch boys.

In the mythic west of Mark Twain and Charles Russell that never really was, the horsemen of Gower Gulch were the genuine article. Rough around the edges but proud and hardworking, they took great chances and did things that would be inconceivable today. They were the original collection of former cowboys turned movie riders, scratching out a meager living in Hollywood’s "Poverty Row", whose main intersection of Gower Street and Sunset Boulevard was nicknamed "Gower Gulch". Their work paved the way for generations of stuntmen to follow. Certainly, they knew their limits and that of their highly valued horses.
While on location, filming his 1923 epic "The Ten Commandments" the great Cecil B. DeMille questioned the cowboys’ reluctance to perform a reckless but spectacular stunt, effectively calling them cowards. They naturally took offense and a feud that lasted thirty years began. There are differing accounts of the incident. From DeMille’s autobiography:
"…the pursuit of the Israelites by Pharaoh’s chariots was shot at Muroc Dry Lake … For this we had two groups of expert horsemen, cowboys with motion picture experience from Hollywood and a contingent of artillerymen from the regular army … in San Francisco. They mixed rather less amicably than oil and water. I confess that my sympathies were with the soldiers, especially after a delegation of the Hollywood cowboys came to me to protest that it was too dangerous for them to drive down a fairly steep hill where I wanted to get a shot of them descending into the Red Sea. While they were protesting, my teen-age daughter Cecilia happened to ride over the brow of the hill in question. I called out to her, "Ciddy! Come here," and without a second’s hesitation she galloped down the hill in full sight of the fearful cowpunchers. That shamed them into making the scene I wanted, but they were more terrified of the artillerymen than they were of me or my daughter." DeMille goes on to describe the Gower Gulch men as "timid " and "scared stiff", a further indication of his contempt.

In her first book, "Hollywood Posse", Diana Cary recalls the 1949 after dinner conversation with her father Jack Montgomery and Neal Hart as they described the same incident: "DeMille listened to the cowboys’ objections and then he decided to shame the cowboys into carrying out his plan. Calling to his eleven-year-old daughter Cecilia, who was riding her pony on the same hill, he ordered her to gallop down the slope at full speed. Complying delightedly, she made the descent at breakneck speed and without injury. Turning to the cowboys with a disdainful smile, DeMille said, "Well, if a little girl like Ciddy can do it, why can’t you?"

"It’s one thing to bring down a single rider, Mr. DeMille," Jack told him respectfully. "Any one of us could do that blindfolded. It’s somethin’ else to have fifty to a hundred men pile off it, with chariots and teams." The cowboys refused to charge off the hill sending DeMille into a rage. The truth of this event likely lies somewhere between the two accounts.

One noteworthy fact: Cecilia DeMille was born October 5, 1908. "The Ten Commandments " was filmed in 1923.
Twelve years later, the feud begun that day nearly cost DeMille his life. Hostilities grew until 1935, when a plot was hatched to kill the autocratic director on a location shoot for "The Crusades". On one particular day while filming his latest spectacle, DeMille insisted the horsemen ride four abreast over a narrow drawbridge barely wide enough for two to safely cross. As the scene unfolded, horses and riders fell, one after the other, from their narrow footing to the bottom of the moat, thirty feet below. When the cameras finally stopped, four men found themselves badly injured and headed for Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, while four treasured movie horses writhed in agony, so badly mangled they had to be destroyed. When DeMille was approached by a contingent of stuntmen requesting compensation he claimed the falls were, " … clearly due to their own incompetence. All I asked of them was simple, straight riding. If they had known how to do so, obviously they wouldn’t have gotten hurt."
For the horsemen this was the last straw and ample motivation to seek revenge. While shooting the big battle scene, once again at Muroc Dry Lake, seven of the riders planned to cause a stampede and trample DeMille in a horrible "accident". Montgomery and Hart claimed the plot failed because the noisy prop armor spooked the horses at the last minute, allowing DeMille to suffer only a very close call.
Years past and the great director went to his grave never knowing how close it really was.

In a recent conversation with Diana Cary I brought up the plot detailed in her book. Why did DeMille treat these men so unfairly?
" He thought they were a group of helpless, defenseless people who didn’t have any power. I think the cowboys finally thought, by god, we’re gonna do it! They had it worked out. It was just that the horses were panicked by the armor."
Referring to DeMille’s secretary years later...
"No one has any memory of this event. The point was they never wanted to find fault with DeMille."
And regarding the stunt men...
"If it hadn’t been for the armor, they would have had him."

Based on descriptions of Jack Montgomery by his daughter, he and his buddies seemed to be stand-up guys, so why would they offer this story if it weren’t true? A far greater concern is the conflict between the message of morality and conservative values in DeMille’s films and his own personal behavior.

Coming attractions, On the small screen:

"The Lively Arts", hosted by Anne Hockens, will feature the life and work of Cecil B. DeMille for its monthly episode on Wednesday, January 4th, 7pm Comcast channel 77/29.

On the really BIG screen:

Seattle Theater Group in its continuing silent film series resumes this January with three Cecil B. DeMille films. The Ten Commandments, 1923 (01/08), a grand epic still unequalled, is followed by Carmen (01/15) and The Cheat (01/22), both from 1915, Sundays at the Paramount Theater.

Grand Illusion Cinema screens 35mm prints of Buster Keaton's 1927 "The General", considered by many to be his very best if not his most enduring Feature film and "Cops", a 1922 two-reeler that includes some of Keaton's most amazing visual gags, Friday, December 30 - Thursday, January 5. Extra shows Saturday and Sunday.

Next week ...

Demille's Lost City and "The Ten Commandments"